


How Much Mycroft Knows in His Last Vow

by wellthengameover



Series: Sherlock Meta [17]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Analysis, Character Analysis, Episode: s03e03 His Last Vow, M-theory, Meta, Other, Sherlock Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-21
Updated: 2015-11-21
Packaged: 2018-05-02 17:47:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5257847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wellthengameover/pseuds/wellthengameover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Mycroft has been looking for this opportunity [to arrest me] for a long time. He’ll be a very, very proud big brother.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Much Mycroft Knows in His Last Vow

Mycroft doesn’t want Sherlock going against CAM; this is his face when Sherlock says “Charles Augustus Magnussen:”

Shock and doom. It’s a little odd that Mycroft doesn’t want Sherlock going up against CAM this much because CAM says this at Appledore:

> MAGNUSSEN: Mycroft has been looking for this opportunity [to arrest me] for a long time. He’ll be a very, _very_ proud big brother.

**So despite what Mycroft says throughout HLV, he really does want CAM gone.** But he doesn’t want Sherlock to do it. Mycroft has been under Jim’s thumb since S1, but he’s not going to take that lying down. Taking out CAM completely (taking out his whole empire so no one could take it over/use it) would be a major blow to Jim because CAM is how Jim distributes fake information (such as the Richard Brook alias and all the newspapers in TRF) and more importantly, CAM almost certainly has some info on Jim that Mycroft could use to take him out. That’s what CAM does; he collects info. So even if the government official side of Mycroft doesn’t care _that_ much about CAM, Mycroft-as-Sherlock-brother wants CAM gone.

But Mycroft knows CAM is connected closely to Jim, so he _does not want Sherlock involved._ He wants CAM gone, but having Sherlock do it could be dangerous: Mycroft must know that Jim must have some plan. So Mycroft tries to intimidate Sherlock out of going up against CAM:

> MYCROFT: Magnussen is not your business.  
> SHERLOCK: Oh, you mean he’s _yours_.  
>  MYCROFT: You may consider him under my protection.  
> SHERLOCK: I consider you under his thumb.  
> MYCROFT: If you go against Magnussen, then you will find yourself going against _me_.   
>  SHERLOCK: Okay. I’ll let you know if I notice. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/67234.html))
> 
>   
> 

This looks like Mycroft realizing that they’re in _so deep_ with Jim; all the things he just barely suspected Jim was up to that probably wouldn’t work are real and working and he can’t stop it. He can’t stop Sherlock from sending himself straight into whatever plan Jim has. And let’s not also forget that what Sherlock says about Mycroft being under CAM’s thumb is true… except that it’s Jim whose thumb he’s under. Mycroft’s feeling pretty guilty.

Before this, Mycroft threatens to go into Sherlock’s bedroom:

> MYCROFT: Your bedroom door is shut. You haven’t been home all night. So, why would a man who has never knowingly closed the door without the direct orders of his mother bother to do so on this occasion?

> **SHERLOCK: Okay, _stop_! Just stop.**  
>  ** _(Mycroft turns the knob but doesn’t open the door.)_**  
>  SHERLOCK: Point made.  
> JOHN: Jesus, Sherlock.  
>  ** _(Mycroft turns and walks slowly back along the hall.)_** ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/67234.html))

Mycroft never looks into the bedroom, so it’s not likely he knows about Janine at this point. Sherlock really doesn’t want him in the bedroom for two reasons: a) John’s chair is in his bedroom, and he doesn’t want either John or Mycroft to see it, and b) he thinks that if Mycroft sees Janine, _Mycroft will tell CAM that Sherlock has some underhanded scheme to get to CAM._ Mycroft will know that dating Janine is fake. Sherlock says this in a moment:

> SHERLOCK: I consider you [Mycroft] under his [Magnussen’s] thumb.

Lady Smallwood goes to Sherlock because:

> LADY SMALLWOOD: _No one_ stands up to him [Magnussen]. No-one dares. No one even _tries._

So Lady Smallwood is the first person in the government to stand up to CAM. It’s likely she would tell Sherlock about this when she hired him. So Sherlock feels like Mycroft is unwilling/unable to stand up to CAM: he considers Mycroft under CAM’s thumb. Since Mycroft would know Sherlock isn’t actually dating Janine, the only other reason to date Janine is to get to CAM in some underhanded fashion: get insider information, convince Janine to steal documents, an easy way into the office. If Sherlock thinks Mycroft is under CAM’s thumb, he thinks Mycroft might tell CAM this, and then his genius plan is up.

Then we don’t see Mycroft again until Christmas. He must know who shot Sherlock, and it’s a good chance he now knows Janine is somehow connected to Jim. He would’ve seen the _Shags-a-lot Holmes_ articles in the paper, so he now knows about Sherlock and Janine’s fake relationship. It would be easy to find out Janine worked for CAM if Mycroft didn’t know already. From Mycroft’s POV, there are two weird things that Janine does that tip him off that [she’s close to Jim](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/101964746533/janine-moriarty):

      a) She doesn’t look into who knocked her out at CAM’s office - she doesn’t seem to care. _We_ know she knows it was Mary, but the fact that she doesn’t get the police on it would tip of Mycroft that she knows, too.

      b) Mycroft knows Sherlock enough to guess that his fake-seduction plan was probably pretty terrible. No one would’ve gone along with it unless they had some alternate motive.

In the six month gap, we’ve no idea what Mycroft’s doing, so let’s get into that goldmine of a conversation at Christmas between Sherlock and Mycroft so we can figure it out.

We can be pretty sure that Sherlock is only recently out of the hospital:

> MYCROFT: Why are we doing this? We never _do_ this.  
>  MRS HOLMES: We are here because Sherlock is home from hospital and we are _all_ very happy. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/67234.html))

Also, Sherlock wouldn’t have wasted a lot of time between getting out of the hospital and going after CAM’s files, so it’s likely this is the first good opportunity Sherlock has had. Mycroft would know Sherlock would go after CAM as soon as possible, so as soon as Sherlock got out of the hospital, Mycroft would know Sherlock would be gearing up for it.

Here’s what we know:

      a) Mycroft brought his high-security laptop to Christmas.

      b) Mycroft knows the punch is drugged (after he drinks it, at least).

      c) Mycroft thinks CAM has real files.

      d) Mycroft knows Sherlock knows who shot him, yet he knows Sherlock’s still speaking to Mary.

      e) Mycroft knows about the pressure-point chain (Mary to John to Sherlock to him), so he knows CAM still wants to pressure Mary. He knows Sherlock will be trying to do _something_ with CAM.

So it’s interesting how he starts the conversation at Christmas:

> MYCROFT: I’m glad you’ve given up on the Magnussen business.

Well, Sherlock _hasn’t_ given up on the CAM thing, and Mycroft knows it. So in this six months, Mycroft’s gone from “absolutely not” to “sure, I suppose.” We know that because of what he says next:

> MYCROFT: I’m still curious, though. He’s hardly your usual kind of puzzle. Why do you … hate him?
> 
> SHERLOCK: Because he attacks people who are different and preys on their secrets. Why don’t _you_?  
>  MYCROFT: He never causes too much damage to anyone important. He’s far too intelligent for that. He’s a business-man, that’s all, and occasionally useful to us. A necessary evil – not a dragon for you to slay.  
> SHERLOCK: A dragon slayer. Is that what you think of me? ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/67234.html))
> 
>   
> 

Sherlock starts out angry when Mycroft says CAM isn’t a problem, but then he gets what Mycroft is saying. Mycroft just brought up CAM out of the blue and started with a statement he _knows is false_ (“I’m glad you’ve given up on the Magnussen business.”). Mycroft is telling Sherlock he knows what Sherlock is up to and he approves, at least sort of.

Remember that when the SWAT team shows up at Appledore, the “target” they were talking about is CAM: CAM takes a step forward and raises his hands:

And the SWAT teams says:

> SWAT: The target is not armed. I repeat: the target is not armed.

So we know Mycroft’s on board with what Sherlock’s doing and knows/suspects about the theft of the laptop in advance because he’s not there to get Sherlock and John for selling state secrets and stealing the laptop, but to get CAM, the “target.” We basically know that Mycroft and Sherlock had some sort of plan about CAM (if not spoken of) because when the SWAT team shows up at Appledore, they’re there to arrest CAM, not Sherlock. So Mycroft knew Sherlock was going to attempt a sting with the laptop and brought a SWAT team to arrest CAM and search the house.

However, Sherlock and Mycroft aren’t actively plotting together and didn’t make a plan together in the six month gap:

      a) Sherlock is organizing a sting. The government does do stings, but they’re not actually very legal; if they go badly, the government needs plausible deniablity. Mycroft has got to be able to say he doesn’t know what Sherlock is doing. If he knew, when Sherlock and John would’ve been convicted of selling state secrets, Mycroft would’ve been, too.

      b) Sherlock and Mycroft really aren’t that close. They’re getting closer, but Sherlock wouldn’t want to tell about what’s going on: Mycroft told him at the wedding not to get involved, and he is _so_ involved. Sherlock thinks Mycroft would try to dissuade him from anything with Mary and John - because of sentiment - or CAM - because he tried to stop him at the drugs bust.

      c) There’s no benefit for Sherlock to talk to Mycroft. Sherlock would think Mycroft might have information on Mary, but (he thinks) he’s about to get all the info he could ever want on her from CAM’s files.

They both know the other one knows, but only through little hints they’ve dropped:

> MYCROFT _…_ Perhaps there was something in the punch.  
> SHERLOCK: Clearly. Go and have some more. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/67234.html))

If they had actively planned the sting on CAM together, they wouldn’t have said all of this. They wouldn’t have talked about the punch; Mycroft definitely wouldn’t have said “I’m glad you’ve given up on the Magnussen business” because they would both already fully know exactly what’s happening. Instead, they’re hinting at each other. They know, but they haven’t talked about it.

Interestingly, we never actually _see_ Mycroft drink anything, so it’s quite likely he was only pretending to be drugged (and likely that Sherlock suspected that) and also likely that the laptop is a fake (and likely that Sherlock suspected that, too).

But again, they haven’t actually talked about this; they’ve just inferred it from what they know about each other.

Mycroft is trying to play Jim; that’s why he’s now on board with Sherlock’s plan. Mycroft wants to get rid of CAM to hurt Jim, so he’s letting all this happen. Mycroft thinks there are real files, so he thinks Sherlock’s sting will work, and this will be a big blow to Jim. Things with Jim are getting really deep for Mycroft; he’s starting to legit try to hint to Sherlock:

> MYCROFT: [Magnussen is] a necessary evil – **not a dragon** for you to slay.  
>  SHERLOCK: A dragon slayer. Is that what you think of me?  
> MYCROFT: No. It’s what you think of yourself.  
>  _…_  
>  MYCROFT: It’s tempting … but on balance you have more utility closer to home.  
> SHERLOCK: Utility(!) How do _I_ have utility?  
>  MYCROFT: **“Here be dragons.”** ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/67234.html))

Mycroft just said CAM _wasn’t_ a dragon, so he’s definitely not talking about CAM. He’s talking about Jim; it’s the kind of language Jim uses. And Sherlock notices:

He gives Mycroft a weird look, but he doesn’t quite get it. He’s like: “I think that was supposed to be something, but I’ve got no idea what. Or maybe it wasn’t anything? It was odd, though…”

So then Mycroft starts to go back inside and lays the big one on Sherlock:

>   
> 
> 
> MYCROFT _(without turning round)_ : Also, your loss would break my heart.

He’s been trying to say this all conversation - [he’s been trying to say this for years](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/98347033687/redbeard-is-the-other-one) \- and they’ve just had a fairly amiable discussion and Mycroft hopes Sherlock is finally willing to hear it. But also, this is a “Be careful.” Mycroft knows what Sherlock’s about to do, and logically, Mycroft thinks there’s no reason it shouldn’t work - if CAM had files, it probably would’ve worked fine - but Mycroft knows Jim’s involved, so his gut feeling is that something bad may happen. But this is Mycroft: he doesn’t work on gut feelings; he works on logic.

Then, of course, Sherlock shoots CAM. Mycroft wasn’t expecting that:

>   
> 
> 
> MYCROFT _(frantically, into his microphone)_ : Stand fire! … Do not fire on Sherlock Holmes! _Do not fire!_ ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/67234.html)) _  
> _

But Mycroft knows how to play this situation to its best advantage. It’s Mycroft who is so convinced that Sherlock should be sent on a suicide mission instead of being put in jail. He convinces the other government officials. He does this by pretending like he doesn’t care about Sherlock at all:

> SIR EDWIN: If this is some expression of familial sentiment …  
> MYCROFT: **Don’t be absurd. I am not given to outbursts of brotherly compassion.** You know what happened to the _other_ one _…_ In any event, there is no prison in which we could incarcerate Sherlock without causing a riot on a daily basis. **The alternative, however** … would require your approval.  
>  LADY SMALLWOOD: Hardly merciful, Mr Holmes.  
> MYCROFT: **Regrettably, Lady Smallwood, my brother is a murderer.** ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/67234.html)) **  
> **

Mycroft plays up Sherlock killing CAM to convince Sir Edwin and Lady Smallwood to send Sherlock on the suicide mission. He’s the one who suggests it, not them. He knows Jim well enough to know that if Sherlock starts to leave the country on a suicide mission, it’ll be the last thing to pull Jim out of hiding and hopefully end in a pardon for Sherlock. Mycroft is about 98% sure Sherlock will get recalled. He really doesn’t look surprised when he’s called about the video:

_“I’m so shocked; look at me being shocked.”_

But there would’ve been no way for Mycroft to tell Sherlock or even John ahead of time because then when Jim actually reappears in person, it would then be very obvious that Mycroft knew the whole time that Jim wasn’t dead. Mycroft has to pretend he’s surprised - to everyone.

(Mycroft must’ve been the one to tell Sherlock that they’d done an autopsy on Jim, etc. after [Reichenbach](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/100860680167/the-roof-at-reichenbach) \- to confirm to him that Jim is gone - so Mycroft is going to have a problem when Sherlock learns Jim definitely isn’t dead. The only way he’s going to be able to play it off is incompetence: “I _thought_ he was dead.” Mycroft is coming to the end of his usefulness in Jim’s eyes because eventually Sherlock is going to figure out Mycroft is under Jim’s thumb. (My guess for that is 5x1.) This Mycroft-Jim business is going to explode.)

So Mycroft knows what everyone’s doing during HLV - he’s inferred what Sherlock’s doing, John’s told him what John’s doing, he knows what CAM’s doing, and he can take a pretty good stab at what Jim’s doing - but Mycroft can’t actively participate in any of these schemes without giving himself way: he’s wearing too many hats. He’s Mycroft-the-British-government; he’s Mycroft-under-Jim’s-thumb, and he’s Mycroft-as-Sherlock’s brother. He’s trying to keep them all going, but the trap is definitely closing in. He thought he could get to CAM (and therefore Jim) via Sherlock, but Jim played him all along.

So I was thinking about _why_ CAM suddenly decides he wants to own Mycroft. Mycroft seems like he’d be a great guy to own if you were CAM, but why didn’t CAM go after Mycroft years ago? Why now? I don’t think there _has_ to be a reason… but I think there is.

It’s clear that the government has some dealings with CAM, probably off the record:

> MYCROFT: He never causes too much damage to anyone important. He’s far too intelligent for that. He’s a business-man, that’s all, and **occasionally useful to us**. A necessary evil – not a dragon for you to slay. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/67234.html))

What I have always taken this to mean is that MI6 and/or the Secret Service occasionally contact CAM - off the record - to buy secrets and information that CAM has collected. CAM is a guy who knows a lot of stuff about people, so if MI6 is investigating someone, CAM’s information could be very useful. CAM is a businessman: he has no particular loyalty to anyone, so he would be willing to sell for the right price. The right price might be money or - more likely - it might be a trade for other secrets. This is a dangerous and unstable relationship for both MI6 and CAM because neither one can afford to let the other one get too much power, but it would also be mutually beneficial. 

The best thing about CAM - for the government in this circumstance - is that he just collects information; he doesn’t use it:

> SHERLOCK: … Magnussen would use the fact of your involvement rather than sharing the information with the police … as is his M.O. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/67234.html))

CAM just _has_ information and he hangs onto it to see if it’ll be useful later. For example, he’s presumably had this info about Mary for a while, but he doesn’t threaten her with it until it can get him something - Mycroft. If there’s no benefit to him to sharing information, CAM won’t share it, even if there’s also no harm to him. He’s not like Jim:

> IRENE: Didn’t even ask for anything. I think he [Jim] just likes to cause trouble. Now _that’s_ my kind of man.

CAM doesn’t go out of his way to stir up the same kind of trouble that Jim does. He just has information and sits on it to see if it’ll become useful. Because of that, he’s pretty discrete, which would be something MI6 would need. If they’re investigating someone and they go get information on that person from CAM, CAM won’t turn around and immediately tell the person that MI6 is investigating them because there’s no benefit to CAM _._

> MYCROFT: **He never causes too much damage to anyone important.** He’s far too intelligent for that. He’s a business-man, that’s all, and occasionally useful to us. A necessary evil – not a dragon for you to slay. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/67234.html))

That means CAM doesn’t go around actively selling out MI6. Basically, he really does think of himself like this:

> MAGNUSSEN: _…_ Oh, I’m not a villain. I have no evil plan. I’m a businessman, acquiring assets. _You_ happen to be one of them!

[Mycroft has always had a problem, which is that he can’t kill Jim until he can round up all of Jim’s minions](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/102390882442/think-its-the-new-sexy-the-trials-of-mycroft). Jim must have told Mycroft at some point that if he (Jim) dies or disappears, there are a multitude of people ready to make a hit on Sherlock. That’s how you blackmail people. So Mycroft  _can’t_ get Jim until he’s also ready to get all of Jim’s people. But Jim knows this, so Mycroft can’t give Jim any hint of what he’s doing. Basically, Mycroft has to be able to roll up Jim and Jim’s whole organization at the same time, which means that he has to know who they all are before he starts. Maybe Jim has people in Mycroft’s office and/or MI6 (probably), maybe he doesn’t, but the thing is: Mycroft doesn’t know for sure. He doesn’t know who he can trust, so he has to orchestrate this whole thing on his own.

After TRF, Mycroft had some downtime when Jim wasn’t activelyplaying games with Sherlock. This would be a great time for Mycroft to a) find out who all of Jim’s people are; and b) get rid of them all at once. That obviously didn’t happen. I’m guessing Mycroft might have a reasonably good idea now, but reasonably good isn’t good enough. But you know who would likely know all of Jim’s people? CAM.

That’s what CAM does; he collects information. I don’t think he knows from his connection to Jim; I think he knows because that’s just what he does.

So I think after TRF, Mycroft went to CAM - _way_ off the record - and tried to buy any information about Jim’s people. Mycroft probably knows that CAM was connected to Jim in TRF, but - like I said before - Mycroft thinks it’s pretty solid that CAM won’t tell Jim that Mycroft is poking around because there’s no benefit to CAM. CAM would just store this information away. At this point, CAM might even think that Jim is dead; I think Mycroft could sell a pretty convincing story that he believes Jim to be dead and is just looking for the rest of Jim’s people: normal MI6 stuff. Or possibly this is how CAM finds out that Jim’s alive.

There’s actually some indication that CAM knows that Mycroft is looking for Jim’s people:

At first, I was thinking that the bust in CAM’s mind palace has to be Mary because it’s there every time CAM looks at Mary’s files, but CAM is only blackmailing Mary to get to Mycroft, so it makes sense that Mycroft’s symbol would be there when CAM thinks about Mary:

So [the bust is Mycroft - _The Greek Interpreter_](http://finalproblem.tumblr.com/post/99454894465/oranges-on-my-mind-2a).

The bust is in the background, looking in the general direction of the clowns, but not quite at them. The clown masks are [the guys robbing the banks - they wear clown masks - who are the assassins from TRF](http://finalproblem.tumblr.com/post/90723197150/the-sign-of-three-plus-one). [Mycroft is looking for Jim’s people, but he hasn’t quite found them](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/102390882442/think-its-the-new-sexy-the-trials-of-mycroft).

And Mycroft really, _really_ wants CAM files in HLV - enough that he’s willing to try to play CAM using Sherlock even though he knows Jim is behind it so it could be really dangerous for Sherlock.

So - post-TRF - Mycroft goes to CAM and tries to buy whatever information CAM has about Jim’s people. CAM’s not selling. Mycroft pressures him - he _is_ the British government, after all, and he’s desperate. Mycroft probably threatens CAM, implies he’s going to frame CAM for things like he does with Anderson:

> MYCROFT: That name you think you may have just heard – you were mistaken. If you ever mention hearing that name in this room, in this context, I guarantee you – on behalf of the British security services – that materials will be found on your computer hard drives resulting in your immediate incarceration. Don’t reply – just look frightened and scuttle. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/67234.html))

This is what pisses CAM off, scares him a little, and makes him decide he needs to own Mycroft. So he goes to Jim.

Maybe CAM tells Jim that Mycroft tried to buy information about Jim’s people from him; maybe he doesn’t, but it doesn’t really matter. Jim already knows Mycroft’s trying to take him out; he just has to stay a couple steps ahead. And he’s already got that situation in the works: Mary is either already dating John or soon will be, and that starts the pressure point chain: Mary-John-Sherlock-Mycroft.

**Author's Note:**

> Transcribed from [my meta blog on tumblr](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/my-sherlock-meta). Much more there. 
> 
> If you're confused about Mycroft and Moriarty's relationship, go [here](http://loudest-subtext-in-television.tumblr.com/post/79041544289/m-theory-mycroft-moriarty-and-magnussens).


End file.
